Kishin Corps
Entry updated 7 September 2026. Tagged: TV.
Japanese Original Video Animation series (1993-1994; original title Kishin Heidan; vt Alien Defender Geo-Armor: Kishin Corps; vt Geo-Armor; vt Panzer Robot). AIC, Pioneer LDC. Based on Masaki Yamada's Kishin Heidan ["Machine-God Soldiers"] (1990-1994). Voice cast include Toshiko Fujita, Toshio Furukawa, Maria Kawamura, Bin Shimada, Hiromi Tsuru and Norio Wakamoto. Seven episodes; the first 54 minutes, others 30 minutes. Colour.
Just before his parents are murdered by Colonel Shinkai (Wakamoto) of the Kanto Army, Taishi Takamurato (Fujita) is told by his father to deliver a box to Yoshimitsu Suguro; Taishi is quickly captured by the colonel, but Aliens now arrive; they too are after the box. With the boy cornered and badly injured, all seems lost until a giant Mecha appears, shoots the aliens and takes Taishi to be treated by a German doctor, Maria Braun (Tsuru). He will learn his rescuers are the Kishin Corps, of which his father was a member.
World War Two has been interrupted by an alien Invasion (see Alternate History) which led to the setting up of the Kishin Corps by "the USA, England, France and Japan"; its purpose is to defeat the aliens. The Corps is led by Scientist Yoshimitsu Sugaro (Furukawa), with mecha pilots Bareiho (Kawamura) and Daisaku (Shimada) also prominent. As well as mecha, the Corps have a train, submarine and other advanced devices based on the aliens' Technology. Nonetheless, the Kanto Army (a historical entity, usually referred to in the West as the Kwantung Army) is still active in Manchuria and Japan's Meiji government is referred to as a "puppet" government.
The Germans – currently struggling on the Russian front – have allied themselves with the aliens and are building their own giant mecha, the work being led by Maria's Scientist sister, Eva (Tsuru). Colonel Shinkai is working closely with the Nazis and Eva tells him they require a vital module, which was in the box given to Taishi; this serves as something of a McGuffin, as the plot now involves a series of thefts and retrievals as it goes back and forth between the main parties. Eva says she is a disinterested scientist who is unconcerned with politics, working for the Nazis only because of the scientific opportunities, but – because at that point the Corps holds the module – she joins them and, because they are so nice, softens as a character. Meanwhile, Shinkai is told by Hans Lingelle – the likely leader of the next generation of Nazis – that they have completed their mecha using Eva's data and called it the Panzer Knight: "the synthesis of alien and Nazi technology"; Shinkai eyes it with interest, wanting it for Japan. The Nazis also have Maria, believing her to be Eva, and she warns Shinkai that the alien module they use transforms the Mecha's operators, making them no longer human.
One of the Corps's adventures has them helping Einstein leave Switzerland for the USA, where he intends to tell President Roosevelt of his proposal for an "anti-alien bomb", clearly the atomic bomb (see Nuclear Energy; Weapons); episode six ends with a US bomber heading to the Nazi/Alien Baltic base on Rügen Island, where more Panzer Knights are being built. The Corps, concerned that exploding such a bomb would have its own catastrophic consequences, races there to defeat the aliens and Nazis before the plane's arrival (with Eva's help they have built a more powerful mecha to help achieve this). On the island, Shinkai makes his bid to lead the Third Reich and Maria is caught trying to steal the module. The story culminates with Taishi piloting the Corps's new mecha and battling the Panzer Knight, manned by Shinkai: both the colonel and the alien base (called a "nucleus") are destroyed, so the US bombing raid is called off.
The Eva Braun here has no connection to the historical character. Japan's role in World War Two is played down, with Shinkai and the Kanto Army seemingly taking most of the responsibility; even here, a couple of Shinkai's subordinates are eventually revealed to be good-hearted. The series has flaws: the latter half of its run drags at times, probably being 1-2 episodes too long, although despite this the ending is surprisingly rushed. Some threads are left hanging or underdeveloped: for instance, we learn little about the aliens, save that bullets do not harm them though a sword will. Despite these issues, Kishin Corps is an enjoyable Anime, with a good story and exciting, well animated action scenes: a pulpy adventure similar in spirit to the Indiana Jones franchise (see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [2008]), but with more technology. [SP]
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